Guild Wars 2

Jaken.6801:

I am bit torn here.

For once I hope they change some skills, to make changing specialities more “special”.
I mean. If the Mesmer only get`s a shield as off-hand for example, it`s only 2 new skills.
In compairson with a Ranger going Druid with staff, he would get 5 new skills.

I really hope they have some things prepared to make the distribution of new skills fair, or at least balanced.

You say that, but it’s not that simple at all.

Yes, a Druid gets 5 new weapon skills because they are getting staves, but they are also only getting one weapon set.

Mesmers are getting two new weapon sets (S/Sh and Sc/Sh), which makes the addition quite a bit more flexible. Plus, because Phantasms are also the skill 4 on every weapon set, that makes the Shield an immensely more valuable addition for build diversity than most options – especially two handed weapon options which are locked into themselves.

Now imagine Thieves. A new off-hand on them is worth 3 weapon sets. A new main-hand on them is worth two weapon sets. Adding a new weapon that could be used in both hands (like axe or mace), would be the equivalent of giving them SEVEN new weapon sets, all while only designing 11 new skills (2 MH skills, 2 OH skills, 7 Dual Skills).

IMO, it’s far more important to look at the number of sets gained as opposed to the number of skills.

Kelthien.8593:

GoldenTruth.2853:

In recent interviews it Anet has made it sound like they don’t intend to add additional races because it is a lot of effort for little gain (although this may change since there will be a lot of time between now and expansion #2). In addition I also believe that they probably will not add a new class (3/3/3 works out well), and will instead add 2 specializations per class along with one or two completely new weapons that only these specializations can wield.

I am however somewhat worried that Anet will lay the foundations for these great ideas and never actually expand on them (looking at your guild missions, fotm, and wallet).

I agree 100%. New races feel so superficial and only valuable to folks looking to start fresh. They often require unique armor models and unique new-player zones: both of which consume development time. I’d rather have ANet spend the time making armor and quests which would be available to ALL players.

I think the existing professions provide a pretty diverse framework to build on. I’d love to see how far they can take the new specializations before adding new ones.

New races are far from superficial. They are immensely valuable to roleplayers (and this IS an RPG, mind you) like myself, as they give us a chance to see new cultures through the eyes of one of their own. They provide a new story. A new city. New animations. All of these add to the joy of gameplay. Do not underestimate the visceral experience that comes with a wildly new set of melee animations, for example.

To that end, I say that the Tengu deserve inclusion at some point. They have an established city. Their physical stature is not terribly different from a Charr (and would likely suffer from many of the same issues), but their inclusion would give the community a nice selection of tribal/native armor.

Lazaar.9123:

The specializations will also change traits and profession mechanics, but the existing weapon choices will likely have the same skills as before. It is only a sub-class, after all.

Druid and Elementalist could be odd-balls in this aspect. If they decide to remove the pet from the Druid (or any future Ranger spec), all of its weapons (and many traits) would need to be tweaked to make up for the now useless pet effects. If any future Elementalist spec loses Attunements in favor of a different mechanic, its existing weapons would require a redesign, or it would need weapon swap – possibly both.

In his Gamebreaker interview, he stated that certain masteries would be used exclusively in the expansion content, but others will be usable throughout the world, and there WILL be eventual masteries geared towards specific existing content.

Shriibot.4569:

I’m soooo excited! I’m trying to go with a more ritualist inspired look. So tattoos and covered eyes.

Sooooo exciiiittteeeed. I need to think of a name!

That’s really well done. Hope it holds up when you actually take it into the game. I’ve had so many great custom sets ruined by glaring clipping issues that only occur on attack animations.

Goomba.6248:

I honestly feel that the delivery of the new features was a bit lackluster. We can all agree the presentation left much to be desired. Anet didn’t WOW us with the new expansion, and this is coming from a huge Guildwars fan. Anet needs some dedicated PR people to put on a good show and excite the crowd…or teach Colin how to be exciting.

They wowed me. Because this is about 90% of what I wanted, or at least giant steps towards things that I wanted.

I get excited by features, not Colin’s skills at crowd pleasing. And, regardless of the wealth of content in this expac, it’s feature rich, and that’s precisely what Guild Wars 2 needs.

Is there a preview code for the Revenant (Rytlock’s) armor set yet? Because I kind of need the leg code to do any such preview.

This particular stat combination for condition builds is meant to be well-rounded. It include’s Ralena’s Band and Vassar’s Band for rings, Jade Wind Orb, Mark of the Deceiver’s, and Master’s Special Serum for amulets, and Plague Idol and Matriarch’s Quill for accessories.

A similar combination for Power that includes all four stats in any combination (but with Power as primary) would be quite welcome for more WvW oriented or open world PvE oriented builds. It would make a nice addition.

For all we know, it may only be made available for beta testing for those with access to the game’s beta clients – like Woodenpotatoes. We need to wait on more details before we try stuff like this.

In the Heart of Thorns video, the Druid still had a pet in the same vein as a regular Ranger. This is more than a little bit disappointing, as the specialization would have been a great opportunity to redesign the Ranger around an entirely different mechanic.

But here’s the question – could that pet have been a placeholder? At this stage of development, it wouldn’t be at all surprising if the mechanics of the specializations were unfinished.

Thoughts?

No, you do not have an illness. I have been in similar circumstances for some time now, as I had a list of side characters but could never really establish a fitting one for my main. His soul-based nature and wiry-brawler style fit well into a Ranger, which didn’t suit my gameplay wishes as a pet class, as well as into the Guardian, a class that I find horribly boring when I attempt to play it for extended periods (as a main class). Fortunately for me, the upcoming Revenant class perfectly fits the lore and appearance theme that I was hoping to achieve with my main, so long as I roll it into a male Sylvari.

The advice I can offer is as such:

1. Do not worry about cultural standards. There is no class that contradicts their race’s ideals so fully as to render it unjustifiable. Even more traditionally condemned combinations (like Charr Elementalist) are rooted in Guild Wars history and have been utilized by their society as useful.

2. Make your own character lore and fit that into the world lore.

3. Focus on secondary characters for a while if you cannot decide on a main. This would be a good time to roll out some appealing characters of other classes, and that’s what I’ve been doing for some time now. It’s good to get some established high-end characters to earn gold. Who knows, you might love them.

4. Pick the race that fits your armor preferences better. Norn tend to be more awkward when it comes to armor, but they have some nice cultural pieces that may be your preference.

5. If necessary, wait until the upcoming specializations are revealed in greater detail. No sense in wasting progress because you would prefer to play as the specialization of the other class.

Well, everything I’ve seen from the trailer points towards more of a Dervish with Ritualist themes. Notice that most of Rytlock’s displayed powers were self-empowering. For example, he gained stealth (likely by calling on Vizu or Shiro). He also summoned what appeared to be Glint as a powerful one-shot attack (probably Elite).

If it borrows from the Ritualist, I wouldn’t expect stationary turret-like Spirits. If it has spirits at all, I would expect (and hope) for them to be an extension of the character, directly tied to their weapons and armor. I would expect something more along the lines of Channeling Magic, which was generally more straight-forward. Weapon spells are also highly, highly likely.

And there is still a large amount of mundane martial skills at work here. Rytlock had a large number of Warrior-like animations, which is only sensible, given that the profession stemmed from a Warrior.

From what I’ve been able to discern, while Necromancers are concerned primarily with summoning the dead or, more directly debuffing foes with dark powers, the emphasis of the Revenant is not on summoning ancestral heroes as minions, but rather as a form of self-empowerment or as a powerful attack. This would make them more similar to the Dervish or Guardian in function, despite their similarities to Ritualists.

I for one am beyond excited for this expansion. The Revenant class is almost exactly what I was hoping for from a profession. Specializations, even at only one per profession, give me a good part of the profession customization I had been hoping for since GW2’s launch. WvW and PvP improvements are a huge deal to me.

Honestly, if this is content light and feature heavy, I’d be completely okay with that. GW2 has a LOT of content, but what it has always needed was improved features. Content bloat would only spread the population further than it already is.

Male Sylvari, if the Revanant armor leggings look at all good on them. I want to create a sort of dark elven character with added silver bioluminescence, and show a bit of skin. He’s supposed to be as close to my in-progress novel character as possible, and Revanants are the perfect class for the job.

Christopher Walken. I would channel Christopher Walken.

I’m predicting something more Assassin like, but still heavily emphasizing the spiritual nature of the Revanant.

Wraith or Specter sounds like a likely name, and daggers would be their game.

thefantasticg.3984:

aspirine.6852:

thefantasticg.3984:

And non-GW1 players won’t give two flying ___ks about having Gwen or not.

You obviously dont know who norgu is =)

Nope, and don’t care either. Lore is ___t in this game and uninteresting to me… except for the Jotun lore, for some odd reason I am interested in that specifically.

I find that statement rather odd, given that this series has some of the most fleshed out and interesting lore in the MMO genre. The only ones that generally compare are those that stemmed from older, non-MMO games (like SW:TOR and World of Warcraft, the latter of which kittenized its series’ lore in my opinion.) Generally speaking, MMOs tend to be remarkably weak story-wise (some, like Perfect World, even going so far as to have little discernible central narrative at all).

I would say that The Secret World is the only MMO that could possibly surpass Guild Wars 2 from a lore perspective, and even that is primarily in how it is conveyed.

lordkrall.7241:

Wasn’t that basically what they said during the announcement?

Wouldn’t know. Didn’t have the time to watch it. Work has been Hell.

Note that nothing here is fact. Nothing is directly stemmed from the game developers. It is merely speculation based on hearsay and my own logical input.

With Heart of Thorns, I believe that we are essentially seeing a foundational expansion. It is meant to bring in new concepts that repair and rebuild the game, but its main focus is on setting up a framework for future expansions and feature packs to build on.

It is likely that we will not receive new weapon types (only old weapons added to classes that did not have them.)

It is likely that the number of specializations per class will be small. Even a single specialization is possible, if it changes a class rather than adding to it.

No races were mentioned, therefore none are likely.

So what then, am I suggesting? In my opinion, expansion #2 will be all about building on the framework left by Heart of Thorns. Guild Halls will be used as a venue for a deeper guild system, including guild raids and more complex guild missions, up to and including full guild PvP or in-guild dueling. The Specialization system will be expanded with additional specializations. The redemption of the Sylvari will open the door for more cautious races, like the Tengu, Kodan, or even the Largos to start embassies with the playable races, perhaps even becoming immediately or eventually playable themselves. The legendary scavenger hunt will open the door for new legendaries, and even new weapon types, which could be unlocked with anything from specializations to the mastery system.

In essence, I do not believe that Heart of Thorns is anything close to the full painting. It’s merely the canvas.

nekretaal.6485:

We are about to have an expansion where the big new PvE feature is gliding with wings.

It would be a shame if a Bird race isn’t included. If it doesn’t happen now it will probably never happen.

The trailer did say “new civilization” but pictured some NPC frogs under the caption.

It should be noted that the Tengu’s primary concern is Primordius. It has been stated that they regularly deal with his minions within their walls. They would be highly likely to join when the world focuses their attention on Primordius, and, if we learn to accept the Sylvari, they would likely become more trusting of us. From a lore perspective, it makes little sense for the Tengu to join the other races while they are at war with one of their own allies – especially given that the Sylvari are perhaps the only race that hasn’t given the Tengu significant cause for concern.

Tengu is a race popularly demanded mostly by the veteran community. Why? Because it is veterans of the first game who were able to see the Tengu in more detail.

They have an interesting Native American-esque culture that stands in contrast to every other race. They are one of the few races in Guild Wars 2 with a fully realized society.

They have interesting physical attributes that lend themselves to unique animations. Guild Wars 1 players will remember Talon Silverwing partially for his reverse grip sword fighting style and sheathing animations.

The combination of their physical attributes and their culture could bring in some great cultural armors.

Additionally, the game is rather lacking in Native/tribal armor sets, despite the Norn being present.

New players only see the reclusive, untrusting humanoid bird people that hide behind a wall. GW1 vets were able to appreciate why this is the case. We got to see a race that was betrayed and nearly exterminated by their own allies, breaking a treaty in the most sickening way.

And furthermore, Tengu were originally slated to be playable. They have more history with our series than just about any other race, and they deserve the inclusion more.

I’m a Guild Wars 1 veteran. It was my favorite game of all time, and it is the gold standard by which I hold all other online RPG’s to. No game has ever topped its complexity or its free-form design in my eyes, and I fear that none ever will.

I’ve long been ambivalent (or perhaps balanced) in my opinion of Guild Wars 2. To me, it’s a great – and even a fantastic game – by many accounts. I love Guild Wars 2, but I have always considered it to be inferior to its predecessor. And over two years of seeing the game’s skill pool remain stagnant, with no expansion on the way, it was hard to not feel marginalized and betrayed by my favorite developers. So I lashed out from time to time. Bitter criticisms, some of which were deserved, and some of which weren’t. After calling out the balance team, I received a temporary forum ban, which I deserved, as well as some more lasting forum restrictions, which I was much less happy about. Fair enough. I learned my lesson.

January 24th was my birthday, and it was, by all accounts, the second most miserable birthday of my life. My new girlfriend decided that it was a good day to tell me that she was seeing someone else. My work schedule doubled for the next few weeks, and I still haven’t recovered from the muscle injuries I took the last time my schedule was increased without my consent. I felt dreadful.

And then something great happened. I came home and saw the details of the expansion to a game that, by all accounts, should be my favorite. And you know what? It looked awesome.

A new class that perfectly fits what I wanted in a class from a lore, roleplaying, and thematical perspective? If text could make someone orgasm, that would have been me.

Specializations, that, on paper, bring back a large part of the depth of the first game while expanding my build options (as I have long desired) AND encouraging me to make more alts by giving me (hopefully) permanent gameplay decisions for each character that make members of the same base profession different? Count me in.

A new PvP mode that sounds strikingly familiar to Guild Wars 1’s deep GvG while packing some mechanics of its own? Hell yes!

A Mastery system that sounds largely like a PvE version of WvW skills? YES!

And speaking of WvW, it’s finally getting a significant rework? COUNT ME IN!

Guild Halls so that my guild can become more than a big friend’s list and a few guild missions? Finally!

And you know what? I am happy. I am really, really happy. For once in this years-long period, I feel like I haven’t been ignored. I feel like Guild Wars 2 is starting to become the game it could, and should, be. And, if this expansion is as good as it sounds, you won an old fan back.

Ayrilana.1396:

Kill off the Sylvari and bring in the Tengu!

Screw that. Kill off the Norn and bring in the Tengu. Sylvari have the most interesting anatomy of any of the game’s races, along with a well-realized culture. Norn are nothing but big, ugly human vikings that kinda-sorta turn into animals.

Sindex.9520:

As for Arena Net they have a long way to go until they can really impress me again like they did when Nightfall came out. It might have to do with some of the original Arena Net staff leaving the company some time ago. That includes two out of it’s three original founders. Both Jeff Strain and Patrick Wyatt now work at Undead Labs. Furthermore the former design director at Arena Net James Phinney (that position was taken over by Chris “CDI” Whiteside) is also working at Undead Labs. Or it could be something else. Either way it does not help that their interpersonal communication skills with us have been severely lacking (or been selective to those who only “praise them”).

It’s rather unfortunate that Undead Labs has been very small-time. A decent zombie game and a Pokemon-style game that’s exclusive to smartphones is well….. disappointing, given the history of those individuals.

My vote is for Square. They’ve come back from a big setback with FFXIV’s first version, and they’ve risen to deliver one of (if not the) best MMO experiences on the market.

Years ago, I would have said Arenanet in half of a heartbeat. Before the release of Guild Wars 2, I would have said Arenanet. Before the November 2012 update, I still would have voted for them. Now…. sigh.

On paper, this looks like a great system that I’m excited for. Hope its execution will be up to par.

Yeah, I don’t want this at all. It defies the very purpose of a dynamic event, which is supposed to be something awesome that you stumble into, making the world feel more alive. Having them advertised over the whole map by the game itself takes away from that.

Unfortunately, Guild Wars 2 has nothing in common with its superior sequel. I’ve already touched plenty on the inferiority of the mechanics and build system here. Not even lore. They personally went out of their way to destroy or ignore virtually every location, character, and faction that made Guild Wars interesting.

The Charr have been made a complete laughing stock, complete with DBZ cash shop haircuts and meat festivals.

The Order of Whispers went from an organized, professional underground organization to a group of freaking cartoon characters. There is little to no subterfuge in their missions or in their attitudes.

The world is full of annoying immersion breaking cash shop items that are just downright infuriating.

I wish they wouldn’t make a mockery of their history.

Nevets Crimsonwing.5271:

Exhibit A of entitlement mentality. Go to lfg. Type in the following:

‘lfg x content, nomad gear/condition builds only. slow roleplay walk only. No skipping. Watch all cutscenes. No zerker elitists.’

You too can PHIW.

I’d recommend having a book on hand though. You’re going to be waiting a long, long time.

Impressions

The Impressions, sentient djinn-like creatures comprised of a single gem heart surrounded by floating liquid, are a bit of an enigma. They only recently appeared from the unexplored underbelly of Tyria – its darkest crevices and deepest oceans.

It does not help that their method of communication is so cryptic and vague. They do not speak in the traditional sense, but they appear to be capable of comprehending language and they can change the color of their fluid bodies to convey emotions. A more intimate form of communication was discovered when Priory explorers observed Impressions touching their hearts together – and diplomatic experiments have revealed that any other race can mentally communicate with one by grabbing one of their hearts. This is obviously a risky measure, as it is difficult to obtain the consent of one who cannot speak, but the information gained from this could be invaluable and there is little doubt that continued exposure to the other races of Tyria will make the anxious Impressions more trusting.

bloodletting wolf.2837:

Teon.5168:

Kadin.2356:

Zypher.7609:

If they have not played in a while, between living story and feature packs there has been a good amount of content added.

I’ve tried. Doesn’t have nearly the same punch as a properly marketed expansion. I hate to point to WoW but they were adding content constantly as well but what draws everyone back time and again? Expansions.

So if the 4 added story lines had been marketed as an ‘expansion’, with a zippy new box and all sorts of hype, and you had been charged 50+ bucks for it, you would now be happy?

No thanks. I will take Anet’s method of adding content. Doesn’t cost the user any $$, and if I don’t like one or more of them, I don’t feel like I wasted any $$.

Hate to tell you but that wasn’t an expansion worth of content.

This.

pandas.9450:

Xenon.4537:

pandas.9450:

Still waiting for axes for guards, my poor tooth of frostfang is still in storage and waiting to turn into frostfang for my guard, come on anet ;-;

I think what this thread needs is more detailed ideas for what weapon skills will do. What do you think guadian axe skills will do? Will they be distinctly different from warrior, ranger, and necromancer axe skills?

Hoping for an offhand axe that will focus on more personal dps,4-5 a stun hit and maybe not just to seem selfish a large arc swipe that can remove a condi on a single team member

I think it needs more thought than that.

For starters, Guards don’t have a fast/high-dps melee weapon that has a symbol. So perhaps the Axe symbol would be a Symbol of Might or a Symbol of Fury.

Couple that with a chain that ends in a sweeping arc to hit the entire 360 degree radius on its final, strong hit. Finish with a bit of soft CC, which the Guard has been sorely lacking. A 450-range leap that cripples the target would round it out nicely.

As for off-hand… well, they should really get Warhorns first, but an Off-hand axe could be nice as a purely-offensive support offhand. A boon-stealing strike and an AoE Might Whirl would be quite beneficial.

This wouldn’t even be a problem if underwater combat wasn’t practically an alpha product.

Over-the-top mob concentrations
Often increased opposing cc – many mob types keep their standard cc while gaining sinks and floats.
Poor balance between the underwater weapons.
Half or more of every profession’s utilities and many elites arbitrarily disabled, ruining entire builds.
Clunky hit detection on melee weapons underwater.

And my personal favorite……
Enemies, pets, and NPC’s don’t believe in walls.

Xenon.4537:

Malediktus.9250:

All weapons for all classes would be a good start.

What the hell would a warrior do with a scepter or focus? Lol.

Focus is more tenuous (perhaps it could be an adrenaline-producer), but Scepter is actually a surprisingly easy connection to make.

Scepters, in real world history, were symbols of authority, command, and/or nobility. For a Warrior, this means that the Scepter would likely be a melee weapon based not on magic but on command – the MH equivalent of a Warhorn, or perhaps a Banner, if you will.

And really, that would be a great unfilled niche for the Warrior.

Ayrilana.1396:

Kind of like how there’s almost no old people in Tyria.

To be honest, is that terribly surprising when everything and its grandmother wants to murder you?

Zietlogik.6208:

And on the topic of flash and style…. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lV0wWzDAwJU

That is one insanely flashy and stylish looking upcoming title.

It is, but it’s also unfortunately an ARPG (Diablo-style game). That’s a pretty shallow genre despite its popularity. I mean, it looks to be of a higher quality caliber than current ARPG titles, but when I saw that gorgeous scenery (before it finally transitioned into actual gameplay), I was thinking “wow, wouldn’t that be an amazing MMO world.” Dream crushed in seconds.

Tachenon.5270:

Alas, poor short bow! Only the ranger and the thief know how to use one. Is there any other weapon so limited?

Hammer and Rifle.

Leo G.4501:

Duke Blackrose.4981:

No, they are either keeping the development of new weapon options in the background, slowly working on a few of them, lumping many of them together at once, or outright neglecting to work on them.

Not sure what you’re trying to say.

Playing crystal ball or telepathic can be fun in threads made for such posts.

- By process of elimination (as it has not happened and there has been no announcement on them or on an upcoming feature pack), you can remove the possibility of new weapons being added soon (as in the next patch and probably the next month).

- There has been no communication on new weapons, so this means that they are clearly being developed in the background or not at all.

- If they are being developed in the background, work on them is either meeting significant headway (which is unlikely, given the long period of time since the long-expired announcement of the feature and now, coupled with Anet’s history of slow updates to core game features) or is making slow progress.

- In either scenario, of the previous statement, you can either expect them to be released in small numbers (as small even as one weapon per class) or in a large lump sum worthy of being the main feature of a feature patch.

No crystal ball. No tinfoil hat. Not even a prediction. I merely covered every scenario that is possible (or at least those that come to mind as being possible).

Vayne.8563:

But when I walked out into a zone in Guild Wars 1 I always knew exactly what I was going to face…where every drop down/pop up was. Every group of every creature. That to me is less depth…or a different kind of depth.

You were clearly some kind of clairvoyant, then. Because that’s actually the case with Guild Wars 2 (in terms of non-event mobs and dungeon mobs). Guild Wars 1 mobs often carried large patrols and killed eachother (with no respawns). Bosses would often spawn at random, not spawn at all, or spawn and kill each other, creating different scenarios.

Guild Wars 2’s mob dynamism comes solely in the form of dynamic events (only a few of which are in certain dungeon paths, and most of which are ignored/skipped by most groups). Now, I LOVE dynamic events, which I didn’t directly mention but mentally lumped under the advantage of engine superiority. DE’s do a lot to make the world feel alive, and they are a great asset to Guild Wars 2.

It is sheer stupidity (or at least forgetfulness), however, to discredit the standard mob spawns in the first game as entirely stagnant. Dynamic Events can be seen as a large improvement over the dynamic mob spawns of many of the first game’s missions, but the system was already there in some small part.

Vayne.8563:

You way game A was better period.

Game B has a superior art direction (and graphics quality), as well as a fantastic dye and character customization system. Game B has a superior and more modern combat system thanks to dodging and a large number of mobile skills. I have acknowledged these (and will always acknowledge these) as improvements of this game, which you have seemed to miss, bringing that “lack of reading comprehension” once again full circle. If I were to truly dig for more minute advantages of the sequel over its predecessor, I could give some weight to its interesting Runes and Sigils, its multiple races (which, unfortunately, have also contributed to the lower number of armor sets and skill animations, thanks to their individualized requirements), and its highly flexible game engine, which has been used for a large number of interesting applications. Arguably, Season 2 of the Living Story has also demonstrated that Guild Wars 2 has the better potential direct storytelling, though I would currently give the edge for background lore to Guild Wars 1.

Where Game A is superior, however, is largely a matter of depth and versatility. A flexible, expansive build system that allowed for great amounts of specialization. Classes (here referring to both base classes and player-invented builds through combined classes) that had actual synergy and team-oriented design. A versatile assortment of PvP modes that covered a wide range of tastes with (usually high-quality) scenarios. Its larger-scale PvP (here referring to Alliance Battles vs. World vs. World) was much more varied and interesting, thanks in large part to the viability of both split and zerg strategies. Its high-end PvP scene was far superior. It had a wider range of viable endgame content (the very thing that the OP took the time to point out) because of the existence of Hard Mode, DoA, FoW, DoA, and a plethora of interesting Eye of the North dungeons.

I could keep going on about the advantages of Guild Wars 1, but I won’t. The point is pretty clear. Guild Wars 2’s advantages are largely in style, appearance, modern combat mechanics, and engine potential. Guild Wars 1 was the better game in terms of substance.

Truly, to make the best game of all time would be to combine these advantages. The depth and flexibility of Guild Wars 1’s build system and attributes with GW2 style runes and sigils – and trait trees that aren’t connected to a wretched, limiting stat system. Guild Wars 1’s approach to tier-free gear with Guild Wars 2’s incredible dye system. Guild Wars 2’s flexible engine with Guild Wars 1’s well-designed endgame content. Guild Wars 2’s combat system with the fantastic PvP modes of Guild Wars 1.

Unfortunately, that’s never going to happen. Because Arenanet can’t seem to acknowledge the glory of their previous creation, nor take its most valuable mechanics to improve their new game.

Vayne.8563:

Duke Blackrose.4981:

lordkrall.7241:

Ah the good old rose-tinted glasses seems to sell well these days.

People tend to complain about how much you need to grind in Guild Wars 2, and yet they complete disregard the massive amounts of grind needed for quite some stuff in Guild Wars 1.
Such as almost everything on this list.

Obsidian Armor is probably one of the most grindy things to get in any western game. DoA (Domain of Anguish) also required not only completion of the story mode, but also spending time grinding titles in order to get more or less required skills and a required title which protected against the enemies there.

As for the whole “huge chunk of added content every 6 months” that only ever happened ONCE during the time of the game. Between Faction and Nightfall. Between Prophecies and Factions it was almost exactly a year.
Between Nightfall and Eye of the North was little less than a year.

Grind is only worthy of criticism when it provides advantage.

Ascended Gear, for example, provides a statistical advantage on par with receiving a free 5% damage trait, a free 5% armor trait, and a free 5% boost to all of your attributes, as well as infusion slots that can also provide some stat boosts. It’s not enormous, but it is best-in-stat, and there is an undeniable large grind to receive some form of statistical advantage.

Obsidian armor, like all guild wars 1 armor sets, was purely aesthetic. There was no mandatory grind to it. It simply had a look (which any given player may or may not care for) and a connotation of prestige, no different from that of Legendary Weapons in Guild Wars 2.

When it comes to certain titles, you would have a somewhat more valid point. Performance boosting titles (like Lightbringer), did leave a somewhat bitter taste in mouth when they were introduced, as they represented small steps away from what Guild Wars was supposed to represent.

And there are no rose-tinted glasses here. I speak as someone who has put roughly 3k hours into each game. Guild Wars 1 was the better game with better skill and content design. Guild Wars 2’s improvements have largely been in the aesthetic and combat (dodging and mobile skills) departments, but even the value of the improved combat has been diminished by the game’s usage of one of the genre’s weakest skill systems.

You’re right. I don’t remember grinding Luxon or Kurzick points to make those skills more powerful. Or sunspear or light bringer skills. And no one ever spammed looking for Ursan rank 8. I don’t remember that at all.

Rose colored glasses are rose colored.

Yes, the games are very different. I’ve put more hours than you in both of them. One is better in some ways and one is better in other ways.

Again, the titles that I very clearly mentioned in my fourth paragraph. The singular design criticism I have for the first game. Dear lord, the blindness and lack of reading comprehension on these forums is astounding.

And, as I brought up in my next post, there was no Kurzick/Luxon skill grind until Nightfall came out and retroactively applied PvE skills to these titles. Actually, if memory serves, PvE skills may have come somewhat after the Nightfall release, not with it. Regardless, this was not a starting feature of Factions (which had been a beautiful campaign on its own), and it was a terrible update on par with Guild Wars 2’s own November 2012 Ascended update.

You can blame me for wearing rose-tinted glasses if you will. It’s better than the blind fanboyism you tend to show. At least there is an actual balance to the praises and criticisms that I tend to level against these games.

Leo G.4501:

Gotta keep up the pressure!
Besides, the devs might rather hear people proposing new weapons than outcries to get the attention from them by threatening to quit or shooting this and that is op or rewards aren’t handed to them on silver platters.

There have been plenty of threads proposing new weapons, including a number of weapon concept threads. All of them have been ignored by developers.

No, they are either keeping the development of new weapon options in the background, slowly working on a few of them, lumping many of them together at once, or outright neglecting to work on them.

lordkrall.7241:

Ah the good old rose-tinted glasses seems to sell well these days.

People tend to complain about how much you need to grind in Guild Wars 2, and yet they complete disregard the massive amounts of grind needed for quite some stuff in Guild Wars 1.
Such as almost everything on this list.

Obsidian Armor is probably one of the most grindy things to get in any western game. DoA (Domain of Anguish) also required not only completion of the story mode, but also spending time grinding titles in order to get more or less required skills and a required title which protected against the enemies there.

As for the whole “huge chunk of added content every 6 months” that only ever happened ONCE during the time of the game. Between Faction and Nightfall. Between Prophecies and Factions it was almost exactly a year.
Between Nightfall and Eye of the North was little less than a year.

Grind is only worthy of criticism when it provides advantage.

Ascended Gear, for example, provides a statistical advantage on par with receiving a free 5% damage trait, a free 5% armor trait, and a free 5% boost to all of your attributes, as well as infusion slots that can also provide some stat boosts. It’s not enormous, but it is best-in-stat, and there is an undeniable large grind to receive some form of statistical advantage.

Obsidian armor, like all guild wars 1 armor sets, was purely aesthetic. There was no mandatory grind to it. It simply had a look (which any given player may or may not care for) and a connotation of prestige, no different from that of Legendary Weapons in Guild Wars 2.

When it comes to certain titles, you would have a somewhat more valid point. Performance boosting titles (like Lightbringer), did leave a somewhat bitter taste in mouth when they were introduced, as they represented small steps away from what Guild Wars was supposed to represent.

And there are no rose-tinted glasses here. I speak as someone who has put roughly 3k hours into each game. Guild Wars 1 was the better game with better skill and content design. Guild Wars 2’s improvements have largely been in the aesthetic and combat (dodging and mobile skills) departments, but even the value of the improved combat has been diminished by the game’s usage of one of the genre’s weakest skill systems.

All of that and you made no mention of the absolute biggest advantage that Guild Wars 1 had over Guild Wars 2?

Guild Wars 1 had a beautiful build system characterized by dozens of unique, often specialized skills for each class as well as a flexible attribute system that complemented build variety rather than restricting it. Guild Wars 1 elite skills weren’t just generic super buttons – they were unique, build-defining skills that served special purposes.

Guild Wars 2 will never be on par with its predecessor because of its inferior take on build philosophy.

IndigoSundown.5419:

morrolan.9608:

Healix.5819:

Ascended gear was practically demanded shortly after launch. “Dedicated” players beat the game, exhausting all traditional “endgame” content in roughly a week and exotics only took a day or two to acquire. There was nothing left to do and the next content update was more than a month away. Legendaries, cosmetics? Useless. In other MMOs, this is where dungeon grinding and raiding for gear would have taken place for several months. GW2 didn’t offer any of that.

This was shown to be a myth ages ago. There was no overwhelming forum demand for a gear grind.

There was, however, a a demand for something to do. In fact, there still is…

As should be expected of a game that has a very limited skill selection, 1 PvP mode, a RvR mode that hasn’t been significantly addressed at any point, and hasn’t had an expansion at any point in its 2 year lifespan.

How about no?

We have two professions that can situationally counter stealth as is. My suggestion would be to modify the Necromancer’s Death Perception grandmaster trait to grant you stealth sight. A slight increase to power necro viability would be good.

Kaiyanwan.8521:

I still believe ascended gear was implemented to troll all players.

Those who like skins, because they were terrible.

Well played ANet!

As complete sets, they are indeed terrible skins. Some of their individual parts, however, are among the best looking armor pieces in the game for mix-and-matching.

(Speaking purely for male characters)
Light chest
Light boots
Medium gloves
Medium shoulders
Medium chest
Medium boots
Heavy helmet
Heavy gloves

There’s been no recent word on this that I’m aware of.

If it’s been completely abandoned, I just wish they’d say something so that I can quit now. The only thing that keeps me playing as I do is an optimism that the game’s single largest issue – its major lack of skill and weapon options – will be fixed.

If there is one thing that this game has done better than any other, it’s style. From its gorgeous painterly artstyle to its wide selection of gear and unmatched dye system, Guild Wars 2 beats all competitors in terms of “looks.”

Quite frankly, if the substance of Guild Wars 2 was as good as its flair, it would be the best game ever made.